Yellow-boy

(A). A gold sovereign.

“John did not starve the cause: there wanted not yellow-boys to fee
counsel.” —Arbuthnot: John Bull.

Yellow-boy

(A). A bankrupt. The French call a bankrupt Safranier, and Aller au safran means to be made a bankrupt. The allusion is
to the ancient custom of painting the house of a traitor yellow. It
will be remembered that the house of the Petit Bourbon was long so
stigmatised on account of the treason of the Constable Bourbon.